What did you do with your tank(s) today?

[MegaraSai]

I really like what you did with the broken pots, BP.

As for me, after a few months of experimenting to figure out the easiest way to bring the phosphates coming from my source water down to 1 or lower, and eliminating much of the blue light that was causing cyano breakouts, the only 'problem' left to solve was the diatom algae - which is entirely caused by the silica in my tumbled amethyst gravel top layer. As Crawley the Myers Giant kuhli systematically killed every single snail in the tank (the ramshorns were a particular joy for her and the MTS I tried to replace them with didn't even last a week. The nerites were playtoys), and Sai liked the antenna of shrimps, fish it had to be.

I had originally decided to get a panda garra because Sai's a curious but not super aggressive betta, but since Sai seemed to be going blind as of a few months ago and started repeatedly mistaking Crawley's stripes for worms (otherwise he actually doesn't bite even if he's chased and cornered other fish), I didn't want to risk him making that mistake with a striped fish much more willing to defend itself. So yesterday I set out to get one or two otos from my lfs. They didn't have any, but they did have:

Nice big blotches for Sai to not mistake for worms, save for the one near the head. And now my tank is fully stocked.

In fact the only problem that's happened is the garra, only an inch big and thus far unnamed, has been harrassing Ryan the rasbora, and Ryan ended up tearing that 'white thing' on tip of her jaw (that so many kubotai rasbora seem to have - what the heck is it?) when she got tired of his crap and nipped him in the side. He didn't pull that with Sai, of course, who's like 4 times bigger. XD

Yes, no quarantine because of a stupid rule in my apartment's pet policy that does not allow ANY other water container beyond the single approved tank. So instead I dosed the tank with General Cure and a bit of aquarium salt on top of knowing the fish had been quarantined at the lfs, who are on the same source water.


I was biting my nails until I finally saw him alive this morning, tho! And will be checking in thruout the day while I wait for packages.

 

[DMD123]

Getting the fishroom/garage put back together after the termite treatment. got half the room set back up with the washer & dryer, utility sink all back in place. when we moved out a cabinet I found a GFCI outlet that is daisy chained in the garage. If it would have ever tripped I likely would have completely forgot it was there and likely called out an electrician, lol. I will likely cut an access hole in the back of the cabinet that covers it or just move it down the chain of outlets.

All the garage tanks are due for maintenance which I hope to get to this weekend after getting the garage back in order.

Been looking at my stock and am ready for some changes... my 46g bowfront community needs more fish and my 65B sajica tank needs less, lol. problem is that I cant really just move any of those fish out, they would be too aggressive for the little tank.

 

[lloyd378]

I really like what you did with the broken pots, BP.

As for me, after a few months of experimenting to figure out the easiest way to bring the phosphates coming from my source water down to 1 or lower, and eliminating much of the blue light that was causing cyano breakouts, the only 'problem' left to solve was the diatom algae - which is entirely caused by the silica in my tumbled amethyst gravel top layer. As Crawley the Myers Giant kuhli systematically killed every single snail in the tank (the ramshorns were a particular joy for her and the MTS I tried to replace them with didn't even last a week. The nerites were playtoys), and Sai liked the antenna of shrimps, fish it had to be.

I had originally decided to get a panda garra because Sai's a curious but not super aggressive betta, but since Sai seemed to be going blind as of a few months ago and started repeatedly mistaking Crawley's stripes for worms (otherwise he actually doesn't bite even if he's chased and cornered other fish), I didn't want to risk him making that mistake with a striped fish much more willing to defend itself. So yesterday I set out to get one or two otos from my lfs. They didn't have any, but they did have:
View attachment 13613
Nice big blotches for Sai to not mistake for worms, save for the one near the head. And now my tank is fully stocked.

In fact the only problem that's happened is the garra, only an inch big and thus far unnamed, has been harrassing Ryan the rasbora, and Ryan ended up tearing that 'white thing' on tip of her jaw (that so many kubotai rasbora seem to have - what the heck is it?) when she got tired of his crap and nipped him in the side. He didn't pull that with Sai, of course, who's like 4 times bigger. XD

Yes, no quarantine because of a stupid rule in my apartment's pet policy that does not allow ANY other water container beyond the single approved tank. So instead I dosed the tank with General Cure and a bit of aquarium salt on top of knowing the fish had been quarantined at the lfs, who are on the same source water.


I was biting my nails until I finally saw him alive this morning, tho! And will be checking in thruout the day while I wait for packages.

I like the new guy! Where is your LFS ?

 

[lloyd378]

Getting the fishroom/garage put back together after the termite treatment. got half the room set back up with the washer & dryer, utility sink all back in place. when we moved out a cabinet I found a GFCI outlet that is daisy chained in the garage. If it would have ever tripped I likely would have completely forgot it was there and likely called out an electrician, lol. I will likely cut an access hole in the back of the cabinet that covers it or just move it down the chain of outlets.

All the garage tanks are due for maintenance which I hope to get to this weekend after getting the garage back in order.

Been looking at my stock and am ready for some changes... my 46g bowfront community needs more fish and my 65B sajica tank needs less, lol. problem is that I cant really just move any of those fish out, they would be too aggressive for the little tank.

I think you have been toying with the idea of the sajica moving on for some time now…. What are you thinking for the community tank?

I’d like to see you aqauscape it and pack it with a bunch of cardinal or neon tetras to get those huge micro schools of fish.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I think she's finally done with her brumation. Had a good poop yesterday, chugged water in her bath then demolished some roaches and mealworms today.

 

[DMD123]

I think you have been toying with the idea of the sajica moving on for some time now…. What are you thinking for the community tank?

I’d like to see you aqauscape it and pack it with a bunch of cardinal or neon tetras to get those huge micro schools of fish.

With the community Im thinking to rehome a couple Golden wonder Killies and just keep a pair with the dominant male and a female. I want more of the Madagascar rainbows as my schooling fishes, they look like little tiny snakeheads. I want to add a bottom cleaning crew, but something besides cories. Im wanting to swap out pleco too, im is a huge wwod eater and makes a pile of sawdust every day. I would like to add a gourami to the mix as the main focus fish.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Changed water on the cupped Bettas last night. Had not actually lifted the cups in a couple days to see them, just feeding and changing from above.




He was all blue with a black head the other day lol



Pretty sure this one is a female, but it has a slightly larger top fin and acts more aggressive than the other all white one with a slightly smaller fin.

Edit: Top Gear Top Tip: Don't feed frozen brine shrimp to cupped Bettas. It's messy lol

I had a few cubes left I was mixing in with the bloodworms.

 

[DMD123]

Spent yesterday getting the garage fishroom put back together. Would not even have know the whole place was torn apart for the exterminators. The clean up did reveal a GFCI outlet behind a free standing closet that was in the chain of all the garage outlets. This would have been an issue if it ever tripped since we would have completely forgot it was there and been in a world of hurt since this was the line that fed the garage fish tanks. And likely it would have tripped before any breaker since it was a 20amp circuit and the GCFI is only a 15amp. I decided to remove it and put in a standard outlet instead. So when I get electrocuted you guys know why, lol.

With garage cleaned up I got to work on the tanks this morning with some good gravel vacs, glass cleaning and heavy water changes. The red wolf is doing well after his little gravel vac tube fiasco.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Oddly enough, I was sipping my coffee this morning by the pond and it dawned on me that the plug is not GFCI that the pond pumps are plugged into.

It's been almost 10 years with no issues so far....

Better get on it lol It's an outdoor plug with just a flip lid over it.

 

[John58Ford]

Oddly enough, I was sipping my coffee this morning by the pond and it dawned on me that the plug is not GFCI that the pond pumps are plugged into.

It's been almost 10 years with no issues so far....

Better get on it lol It's an outdoor plug with just a flip lid over it.

My outdoor outlets are GFCI protected by the main ones in the chain. There a GFCI at the front of the chain in the garage, protecting the one outside the garage. And one on my kitchen counter protecting the one on the back porch. Yours might be like that too so check before you replace it, putting two GFCI units in a chain is said to cause false trips.

 

[John58Ford]

Then multiple traps set up around perimeter of house.

Did you catch many in the traps? Curious what that looks like/how effective it is.

 

[lloyd378]

I’m on spring break so I brought home my angel and betta and left the guppies in my school tank.

I’m planning to run in, aqauscape it to give them hiding places and then I’ll add more guppies ( the feeder type that are 5 for a dollar.

We are going to do a live observation in my science classes as the guppies have been breeding and the colors have been mixing together but I think I want to do a natural selection thing as that was our last unit of study.

I need to decide on some sort of predator that will keep the young guppies at bay with the hopes that the ones that camouflage the best survive long enough to produce their offspring.

This could be iffy but my students this year asked if we could do something like that after watching the guppies reproduce for our traits and reproduction unit.


Today I also cleaned and gravel vac’d the discus tank and scraped algae off of the midas 220g tank.

 

[lloyd378]

I still have an empty 75g tank in the garage since the fahaka passed away two months back. I’ve been thinking about growing out a clown knife fish again as I love them and saw that aquarium paradise had some juveniles in for like $14 dollars.

On a side note: now that I’m done coaching basketball, I have a little extra time and did some maintenance on my Dovii X jag hybrid tank( the last couple of months, I’ve had my son take care of it). I was surprised to see that it had grown so much. It’s know about 13.5” long and probably 4.5” tall. It’s becoming a monster and he attacks the glass anytime I go near it…..

Pics coming soon.

 

[lloyd378]

Pictures:
Female polleni cichlid in my living room 75g. It used to be planted but she killed them all.

Dovii X jag hybrid male

Midas (15”) male Chanco (7”) female

Male chocolate cichlid
Male turquoise severum
A few small growouts from the midas x chanco pair.

 

[DMD123]

Did you catch many in the traps? Curious what that looks like/how effective it is.

I really did not know the “how” or “why” as to traps so I looked it up:

Termite Bait Stations How Do Work and Why Are They Effective?

Termite bait stations are a common way to get rid of termites. But do they work? And why are they effective? Find out here!

www.cleanandgreenpest.com.au

What are termite bait stations and how do they work?​

termite bait stations or monitoring stations are small plastic stations which was invented by the CSIRO these small circular stations are placed in the ground around the perimeter of your home and other key hotspots .The stations are placed every 3-5 meters around the perimeter of the property no more then 1.5 meters from the gutter drip line. They are designed to detect termites which could be foraging around your property underneath soil or concrete areas.

How a in-ground termite bait station attracts termites

The stations contain a timber attractant which is designed to lure termites into the stations. They are checked on a regular basis, typically every 4-8 weeks when they are found in the stations a termite bait is added to the stations which includes a insect growth regulator usually classed as chitin inhibitors.Termites moult, that is they shed their exoskeletons, because they cannot reproduce chitin, they are unable to replace this skeleton and thus perish. The termite colony loses whole generations and collapses as a consequence.

Why are termite bait stations effective – how do they stop infestations?

Termite bait stations are effective at stopping termite infestations for a number of reasons. One, the termites are lured into the station where they can be monitored which is a great option for property’s with limited access as concrete slab homes or in property’s were other termite management systems are not a option. Two, the termite bait contains a growth regulator which prevents termites from moulting. This effectively eliminates the entire termite colony itself unlike other methods such as termite dusting and or foaming which are designed to just rid termites from the structure and not eliminate the termite nest meaning termites could reappear over time.

 

[fishguy1978]

I’m on spring break so I brought home my angel and betta and left the guppies in my school tank.

I’m planning to run in, aqauscape it to give them hiding places and then I’ll add more guppies ( the feeder type that are 5 for a dollar.

We are going to do a live observation in my science classes as the guppies have been breeding and the colors have been mixing together but I think I want to do a natural selection thing as that was our last unit of study.

I need to decide on some sort of predator that will keep the young guppies at bay with the hopes that the ones that camouflage the best survive long enough to produce their offspring.

This could be iffy but my students this year asked if we could do something like that after watching the guppies reproduce for our traits and reproduction unit.


Today I also cleaned and gravel vac’d the discus tank and scraped algae off of the midas 220g tank.

A banjo cat or two would work. They would prey on the fry but not the adults.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Water change on the baby Betta tank and cleaned the muck out of the 20 filter pick up. Otherwise admiring how this Betta is turning out, as well as this Endler. First time setting aside blonde fry just to see. Snakeskin chest, magenta saddleback blondes

It started out very bland. But has become "Ya know, I wouldn't mind a tank of those" lol

Not quite breeding size yet, hoping the offspring might produce blonde saddleback females with similar orange to the male on the caudal similar to the males mother (magenta cobra saddleback) So we'll see in a few months. Might need to put some white board along the sides and back and keep this tank basically empty and clear so I can ensure blond fry only. Had not done much with them because I have trouble telling them apart after fry stage. The goal was initially to train my eyes to identify them better.


To make matters worse, I have some of another strain carrying metal gold genes for their eyes. When it crosses with magenta it expresses as an orange eye. Isolating that one day would be nice. Maybe it can force express through this.

 

[DMD123]

Back to back days cleaning the decor in the 300. Yesterday was scrubbing down the driftwood and today was pulling out the fake rock work and giving it a light bleach solution scrub to get the algae growth off it. Super happy with these Universal Rocks products. Love the scale and durability of these. Costly initial investment but going strong.

 

[lloyd378]

I need help identifying this plant…. In my bedroom discus tank I am growing a ton of this grassy ball like substance. It’s at the base of all of my plants and I’m now finding it growing randomly in the rocks.

I pulled most of it off my plants last gravel vac but it’s coming back. What is it? I


*if the pictures are too blurry, I’ll grab a video

 

[John58Ford]

Looks like staghorn algae. It's not uncommon, easy to handle. You can shut down your filter for 5-10 minutes and directly dose the stuff with a little dab of hydrogen peroxide from an irrigator type syringe or a little graduated one like a lot of us use to draw samples for our water tests or dose liquid fertilizer or maybe have laying around from children's cough syrup. There's an upper limit of how much you should use per gallon of water but you will probably get no where close to that number if you just think a few drops here, few drops there. I never really need to get over .5 ml per gallon but: Don't go over 1 ml per 1 gallon and I'm pretty sure you'll be well safe. I have seen people claim up to 5ml per 1 gallon but some fish and plants are sensitive so I would just stay low. A tiny squirt on each little staghorn ball and wait 5--10 minutes before turning the filters back on. You'll see the staghorn bubbling as soon as you dose, then over the next few hours it will be light gray and most algae eaters will annihilate it. Most recommend dosing with the main lights off, I'm not sure how much that helps in this use case.

Usually this rides in on a net with new fish after you strain the bag into a bucket, but I'd venture a guess it's present in most fish tanks in one way or another, just not thriving. It may have come in with new plants. Usually it doesn't do well in a tank with high plant growth and balanced nutrients but sometimes you just get lucky and the stuff thrives. If I'm high on iron and have recently thinned the tank I see some on my Java fern roots, I've also seen it try to cling to the hair algae that I actually intentionally put on certain features over the years (the big rock in my 125 I intentionally use hair algae to cap it as crazy as that sounds, I like the look). Hydrogen peroxide will soften green spot algae, kill off hair and staghorn algae, and it is my favorite cleaner for the under side of tank lids near feeding spots or air stones.